David Fawcett

David Fawcett Receives Who's Who in Florida Prevention Award

David Fawcett PhD, LCSW, has been honored with the "Who's Who in Florida Prevention Award" in recognition of his leadership in both substance abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention.   The Florida Office of Drug Control named individuals recognized for their leadership at the annual statewide Prevention in Florida Conference in Orlando in early October.  This award acknowledges the accomplishments and dedication of individuals and groups within Florida’s prevention community.  Dr. Fawcett's nomination specifically recognized a decade of leadership working to strengthen individuals and families, especially within the LGBT community.

Dr. Fawcett has worked on a number of community projects, including serving as Chair of the South Florida Methamphetamine Task Force, which fostered community partnerships to address the methamphetamine crisis through training of professionals and creation of an infrastructure for prevention and treatment.  He was a founder of Meth and Men South Florida, a program of Sunserve, which continues to provide sliding-scale individual and group therapy for substance abuse within the LGBT community.  He also serves on the Board of Governors of the Broward County Commission on Substance Abuse; the Clinical Advisory Board of Sunserve; and recently was Program Co-Chair of the 2010 National Gay Men's Health Summit, a five-day event that drew nearly 500 people from around the nation to address concerns related to the health and wellness of gay men. 

Dr. Fawcett frequently makes presentations on topics of HIV and substance abuse both locally and nationally, most recently at the US Conference on AIDS.  He has been in private practice and created and now facilitates the "Connections" group for gay men at Fusion, a drop-in center funded by the Broward County Health Department.  The weekly "Connections" group is open to all and provides a rare opportunity for gay men to discuss a variety of topics, including body image, self-esteem, intimacy, relationship skills, stress reduction, and many more.  

METH 911: A New Option for Help

   We’ve all seen the scary images of methamphetamine’s toll on the body: the remnants of a handsome face reduced to a visible skull with sunken eyes, withered skin and one really bad case of meth mouth.

   Such visuals, at one time widely used in drug prevention campaigns, may have had some value. For one thing, they certainly got our attention. Until recently, many gay men in our area were naïve about meth’s downside and its potent and destructive addictive power.

   Florida arrived late at the meth party and we were able to learn a great deal about the epidemic and what to expect from gay communities on the west coast. But even treatment professionals were unprepared and uninformed about meth’s unique properties.

   These grisly illustrations, however, also had unintended consequences. Men struggling with meth took one look and went deeper underground. The images did little to assist them in stopping the drug, but did a lot toward increasing their shame about using it. Others in the community who never tried meth were appalled that anyone would use a drug that could do that, and a rift opened resulting in further polarization.

   The South Florida Meth Task Force, founded in 2003, responded to this knowledge gap by providing “Meth 101” for over one thousand front-line professionals, including therapists, substance abuse counselors, EMTs, law enforcement officers, teachers, physicians, and HIV prevention workers.  The Task Force, through the cooperation of multiple agencies and the volunteer time of many individuals, helped get the word out about the risks of meth and other substances among gay men as well. Soon the meth problem became increasingly obvious.  People we cared for were crashing and burning all around us and many were asking (as tweaker.org noted) “remember when sex without speed did the trick?”

   Now, no one can claim they are unaware of meth’s inherent risks. But knowledge itself, unfortunately, is ineffective at fighting dopamine-fueled drug cravings. Scary skull pictures do little except remind users about the harm they are causing for themselves. While self-help groups have become increasingly available, south Florida has needed additional meth resources, and fast.

   Enter Meth and Men South Florida (M&M), a new program of Sunserve (www.methandmen.org) that grew out of the South Florida Meth Task Force. M&M is dedicated to the support of men in our community struggling with the crystal meth epidemic. Their website already lists resources in south Florida, and will soon grow to include other informational pages. M&M is dedicated to filling gaps in services and in the near future will begin a therapy group focused on sexual issues in meth recovery, sliding-scale individual counseling, and a variety of other events like town hall meetings.

   Sometimes, however, the near future is just too far away. Good news!  On Monday, July 14, M&M will begin offering METH 911, a free weekly drop-in group. METH 911, a collaboration of Sunserve, Broward House, and the GLCC, is a confidential and non-judgmental gathering for anyone affected by crystal meth: individuals, partners, family, and friends.

   It will be held at the M Project (2645 North Andrews Avenue, Wilton  Manors) every Monday evening from 6:30pm to 8:00pm. More information is available at from SunServe at 954-548-4602 or by e-mail to [email protected].

  Save the creepy pictures for Halloween. With groups like METH 911 we can face a really scary problem together and discover that action and community trump fear every time.